PORTRAIT

“Ballinacurra House – magnificent, marvellous, fantastic, first class! We felt like we were welcoming and waving off our guests from our own beautiful stately home”

Mary and Pat, Cork

Kinsale Gourmet Academy

Ballinacurra House will launch the Kinsale Gourmet Academy in October which will be a unique cookery school that will offer people the opportunity to come and learn how to cook like a pro in a positive, creative and stress free environment. It will showcase the skills of award winning Head Chef David Rice in the private and exclusive environment of Ballinacurra House, against the backdrop of Kinsale with its rich history and culinary heritage.

Before joining Ballinacurra House, David spent 2 years working as head tutor at Dublin’s premier cookery school, Cooks Academy. This enabled him to extend his skills beyond just cooking, and develop further his people and teambuilding skills.

Prior to this, David worked as a senior chef at Dublin’s Michelin star restaurant Chapter One. Before that he was head chef at the Mustard Seed restaurant in Adare, Co. Limerick for three years. Whilst at the Mustard Seed he won Best Chef in Limerick at the Restaurant Association of Ireland awards 2010. In addition, the Mustard Seed won Country House of the year in 2008 and Best Use of Local Ingredients in 2009 at the Georgina Campbell awards.

The classes will always be small and intimate with dedication and attention to the students so they can fine tune their skills.

The modern, industrial chic cookery school will become a hub of fine food in the west of Ireland and it will create a place where foodies can come to cook, relax and learn in Gourmet capital of Ireland.

The Academy is fitted out with the best equipment on offer and with sponsorship from German company Neff. Neff has built a global reputation for producing appliances that not only look good but cook brilliantly, with continuous innovation over the years to make the kitchen experience even more pleasurable.

The Kinsale Gourmet Academy will be officially launched Tuesday, October 14 2014, with Chapter One Celebrity Chef Ross Lewis and Mayor of Cork Alan Coleman in attendance as well a number of other names from Ireland’s Food Industry.